Playstation 4 could introduce PS1/PS2 compatibility

The Playstation 4 may be capable of local emulation of PS1 and PS2 titles.

The Playstation 4 could be capable of backwards compatibility for Playstation 1 and Playstation 2 games according to rumours from well placed sources.

Talking to Eurogamer, someone working with Sony's recently revealed streaming service Playstation Now revealed that there are no plans to release Playstation 1 and 2 titles over the service, but that these games should run through local emulation on the console.

Further details shared suggest that Sony is pushing for older titles to run without any of the upscaling issues that have been evident in Playstation 3 ports of older games. The quality of backwards compatibility should be comparable to that of unofficial PC emulators for the Playstation 1 and 2.

Sony's history of providing backwards compatibility has been inconsistent. The Playstation 2 was capable of running Playstation 1 games without an issue, but only early versions of the Playstation 3 were able to run Playstation 2 titles.

The decision to discontinue this feature was apparently due to the hardware requiring the equivalent of an entire Playstation 2 to be built into the Playstation 3 unit as the two consoles ran on very different systems.

Playstation Now, a service which Sony intends to bring to not just the Playstation 4 but several other Sony devices including internet-connected Bravia TVs, will stream Playstation 3 titles via an internet connection bypassing the need for hardware compatibility. The service will make use of streaming technology developed by Gaikai, which Sony bought in 2012.

Am I missing something? Every time some Sony news comes out, I gain a little bit more respect for them. Everything they seem to be doing, seems to benefit the customer or experience. I'm confused, it never used to be like this.

Originally Posted by SexyHydeAm I missing something? Every time some Sony news comes out, I gain a little bit more respect for them. Everything they seem to be doing, seems to benefit the customer or experience. I'm confused, it never used to be like this.

I hope it's a trend, but don't get your hopes up yet, As mentioned Sony is really inconsistent with where they stand,I remember the PS3 was like this when it was released, the big thing back then was the linux support, which sony removed later on aside from the early PS2 support which was later lacking a few years later.

Originally Posted by SexyHydeAm I missing something? Every time some Sony news comes out, I gain a little bit more respect for them. Everything they seem to be doing, seems to benefit the customer or experience. I'm confused, it never used to be like this.

I've been thinking that same thing lately. PS+ is a steal, the indie push on the vita has turned out really well, their phones no longer languish behind the competition, PS4, PS now.
Then there's the quirky stuff like like the QX series and the new car head unit they announced at CES.

Sony are full of win these days.

*speaking of PlayStation emulation, I recently returned to it and my god epsxe is a plugin minefield these days. I wish they would get away from plugins like the dolphin team have.

Eurogamer has some comparison shots of what I presume to be GT4, they are pretty impressive all things considered.

Whilst I have a PS2 in my collection, this is still pretty exciting. Whilst it is unlikely (considering the updateded assets) it would be cool if I could simply stick a PS2 disc into the PS4 and it would simply play.

Now if either Microsoft or Sony could do a deal with Sega and produce somethiing similar with the Dreamcast I would be VERY happy. Not going to happen but I can dream can't I...

Originally Posted by dyzophoriaI hope it's a trend, but don't get your hopes up yet, As mentioned Sony is really inconsistent with where they stand,I remember the PS3 was like this when it was released, the big thing back then was the linux support, which sony removed later on aside from the early PS2 support which was later lacking a few years later.

The whole Linux thing they cut as they felt it was hindering sales of games. The PS2 support wasn't viable due to cost, they needed to trim everything they could to get units out, remember that was 7 years ago and they had a fight with HD-DVD and the CHEAPER XBOX360 to win. They have the cheaper console and their rival is using Blu-ray now.

A nice feature but to be honest since they have been remastering old games to do HD versions I'd much rather play those than the originals, same old game but updated to match the tech you are using today like high Def screens.

GT4 would look good as it actually had a 1080 HD option on release on PS2 but most other games would benefit from rework.

Log in

You are not logged in, please login with your forum account below. If you don't already have an account please register to start contributing.